World Studies Final Study Guide

Indus River Valley

Early civilizations that contributed to the development of India through agriculture and social structure.

Caste System

A hierarchical social structure established in India, significantly influenced by the arrival of the Aryans.

Hinduism

A major religion that developed around 1500 BCE, characterized by beliefs such as Dharma and Karma.

Rig Veda

One of the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, containing hymns and religious rituals.

Buddhism

A religion founded in the 5th century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama, focused on the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path.

Four Noble Truths

The core teachings of Buddhism that outline the nature of suffering and the path to liberation.

British East India Company

A trading organization established in 1600 that played a key role in the control and exploitation of India.

Sepoy Rebellion

The 1857 uprising against British rule in India, fueled by grievances among Indian soldiers called Sepoys.

British Raj

The period of direct British rule over India from 1858 to 1947.

Indian National Congress (INC)

A political party founded in 1885 that played a vital role in India's struggle for independence.

Satyagraha

A nonviolent resistance philosophy developed by Gandhi to oppose British rule.

Partition

The division of British India in 1947 into the independent states of India and Pakistan.

Kashmir

A disputed region between India and Pakistan, central to ongoing conflicts.

Ottoman Empire

An Islamic empire that existed from the 14th century until its dissolution after World War I.

Zionism

A movement aimed at establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine, particularly in response to anti-Semitism.

Arab Spring

A series of protests and uprisings across the Middle East beginning in late 2010.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The forced transportation of Africans to the Americas as slaves from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Scramble for Africa

The rapid colonization of Africa by European powers in the late 19th century.

Pan-Africanism

A movement advocating for the solidarity of African nations and peoples worldwide.

Rwandan Genocide

The mass slaughter of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda in April 1994, resulting in around 800,000 deaths.

Apartheid

A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination enforced in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s.

Nelson Mandela

A key figure in the anti-Apartheid movement who became South Africa's first black president in 1994.